BCCI increases match fees for women’s domestic cricketers, marking a significant step towards better pay parity and professional growth.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Apex Council has approved a significant hike in match fees for women domestic cricketers, more than doubling the payments across categories in a move aimed at bringing them closer in line with the men’s structure.
Starting XI players in senior women’s one-day and multi-day tournaments now earn INR 50,000 per day, up from INR 20,000, while reserves receive INR 25,000, previously INR 10,000. This uniform revision, decided during a meeting in Mumbai on Monday, also covers T20s (INR 25,000 for playing XI, INR 12,500 for bench) and age-group levels (INR 25,000 and INR 12,500 for U-23/U-19 one-dayers).
New fee breakdown
The Under-23 and U-19 women’s one-day playing XI fees stand at INR 25,000 per day, while reserves get INR 12,500, and T20s at INR 12,500 (reserves INR 6,250), aligning closely with men’s structures. Knockout stages could see fees climb upto INR 50,000-60,000 daily, fostering parity and incentivising performance.
| Category | Format | Playing XI (New) | Reserves (New) | Previous XI | Previous Reserves |
| Senior | One-day/Multi-day | 50,000/day | 25,000/day | 20,000 | 10,000 |
| Senior | T20 | 25,000/mat | 12,500/mat | 20,000 | 10,000 |
| Junior/U-23/U-19 | One-day | 25,000/day | 12,500/day | 10,000 | 5,000 |
| Junior/U-23/U-19 | T20 | 12,500/mat | 6,250/mat | 10,000 | 5,000 |
Umpires’ grouping reform proposed
No immediate fee hike for umpires, but the committee, featuring Amish Saheba, Sudhir Asnani, and L Hariharan, recommended scrapping the A+, A, B, C grouping system due to quality dips in the top tiers.
With 186 umpires affected, the panel noted better performances in lower groups yet lower pay, calling the promotion-demotion model flawed. Apex Council will revisit umpire fees next month, prioritising merit-based assignments.
Read More: Women’s World Cup 2025 gets record prize pool of USD 13.88 million; surpasses Men’s CWC 2023 payout
Post World Cup momentum
India’s triumphant 52-run victory over South Africa in the Women’s ODI World Cup 2025 final, powered by Deepti Sharma’s outstanding figures of 5-39 and Shafali Verma’s all-round brilliance, has acted as a catalyst for renewed match fees in the domestic game. Soon after the title triumph, the BCCI awarded INR 51 crore in prize money to the winning squad.
The subsequent decision to revise women’s domestic match fees comes after the landmark win and aligns with growing expectations for grassroots development, particularly after the tournament’s USD 13.88 million prize pool surpassed that of the men’s ODI World Cup 2023.
BCCI’s broader women’s initiatives
BCCI has accelerated women’s cricket growth beyond fees. In 2022, it pioneered equal international match fees of INR 15 lakh per Test, INR 6 lakh per ODI, and INR 3 lakh per T20I, matching men and positioning India as a global leader in pay equity. Secretary Devajit Saikia recently affirmed plans for more women’s Tests and multi-day domestic games to build red-ball depth.
Other steps, such as launching Women’s Premier League (WPL), generating INR 377 crore surplus in 2023 for infrastructure and talent pipelines, revamped coaching, National Cricket Academy programs, and specialised physiotherapist roles for women’s teams, have professionalised the pathway from local leagues to national squads.
Strategic goals and impact
The fee doubling aims to expand the talent pool, drawing more women to cricket as a viable career amid rising aspirations post World Cup glory. Financial security has been seen as the key to matching men’s participation rates, reducing dropouts, and fuelling national team depth.
In the long term, the move underlines the BCCI’s broader vision of excellence built on parity. As Harmanpreet Kaur’s side demonstrated in Navi Mumbai, strong domestic foundations are essential to sustained success on the global stage. For emerging players from places like Narnaund and the hinterlands of Haryana, the pathway to the national XI now appears clearer – an important step toward greater regional diversity in a sport that has traditionally been male-dominated.
With umpiring reforms pending, BCCI continues to refine its ecosystem for sustained women’s cricket dominance.
Read More: How India’s win in WWC 2025 will change the landscape of cricket at home & in the world?
